Spikes have been used in the sport of golf for quite some time. The conventional spike used on the bottom of a golfer's shoe insured a stable base during the golfer's swing by preventing the feet from slipping. The primary design used for years was a single spike in the center of a pad, screwed into the bottom of a golf style shoe. Generally each shoe contained in excess of 10 spikes. The single pointed spikes protruded from the shoe approximately 1/4".
The results of the traditional style spike was damage to the golf course greens. The spikes punctured the crown of the grass plants as the golfer walked across the greens. Each spike destroying at least one grass plant for each step the golfer would take on the greens.
When playing a particular golf hole, the average golfer takes approximately 40 steps on the green. Given that there are 10 spikes on each shoe and each spike destroys at least one grass plant per step, the number of grass plants destroyed on a given green is 800 (2.times.10.times.40). If you multiply this number by 18--the number of greens played in a single round of golf--it becomes clear that 14,400 grass plants are destroyed by a golfer during each round of golf. Assuming that 340 golfers play golf in a single day, nearly 5 million blades of grass are destroyed daily with the use of traditional, single golf spikes.
Because of the destruction of the playing surface, a new spike concept described as "Spikeless" gained acceptance in the sport of golf throughout the 1990's. These newly accepted spike designs generally do not have a center spike causing damage to the crown of the grass plants on the greens of a golf course. Instead the "Spikeless Design" has a gripping pattern which is typically symmetrical to the center of the spike. The new designs attach in the same way as the traditional golf spike by threading to the bottom of the shoe. This evolution in design has provided protection to the crown of the grass plant resulting in minor destruction to the golf greens thereby greatly enhancing the playing surface.
The new "Spikeless" designs do not grip the surface of the ground in the same manner as the traditional single spike design. Also, the spikeless design has a tendency to get plugged up. The newly accepted spikeless designs are fashioned to be symmetrical in order to provide an even resistance from any and all angles of applied force as the spikes are randomly threaded into the bottom of the golf shoe. This is the bases for improving the design further to a directional force spikeless concept.
There are several parts of a golf swing. One of the most important parts involves the transfer of weight within the swing itself. During the transfer of weight, if the golfer does not have sure footing he or she could slip resulting in an errant shot.
The transfers of weight that occur during a golf swing are made in a specific direction requiring a greater holding requirement by a golfer's shoe in a single directional plane verses a multidirectional plane. Therefore if the newly accepted "Spikeless" design could be enhanced to provide an non-damaging design with better holding forces and no increase in cost to the consumer it would be a great improvement to the sport of golf.